VA Photos

In 2009 volunteers from the Master Gardeners Association of Massachusetts cleared a patch of overgrown land adjacent to a Veterans clinic in Masachusetts and built a garden. The goal was to provide veterans with a quiet, reflective area while waiting for medical appointments. In the ensuing fifteen years the garden has been expanded several times and maintained on a weekly basis by the volunteers.

This web page follows its development from the first cleanout in the spring of 2009 to the present.

These early photos don't show the depth of the overgrowth very well or any of the debris left by years of midnight dumpers. The cleared area runs fifty to sixty feet back into the woods and was nearly impassable with dense clusters of vines, roots and pockets of poison ivy. Based on the signpost it appears the area had been cleaned out sometime in the past but not maintained.

After a couple of months of intense work the area has been cleared of bittersweet vines, deadwood, roots and refuse. One or two dead trees were dropped and the brush cut back as far as the fence on the west side of the lot. Starting now and going forward all biodegradeable material will be deposited in the heavily wooded lot at the rear to become (we hope) future compost.

Today the benches arrived as kits - heavy concrete supports with pre-formed holes with wooden slats and bolts. Assembling and moving them around took longer than expected because of their weight. And the first load of mulch was delivered. Previously, we had tilled the soil of the raised bed and added compost. Now it was time to put in some plants.

Next the ground needed to be scraped and levelled with a bobcat in preparation for the laying of the circular gravel path. Then a tiller was run to loosen the soil. These photos show the installation of the retainer sidewalls to contain the gravel. In one month's time the tomato plants are robust.

Once the retaining sides for the gravel track were finished the gravel arrived in a grim pile. The filling-in of the track went smoothly because of all of the careful preparation of the bed. The rear benches have been set in place and stained and the first two side gardens to flank the front of the main circle are prepped and populated. And the second of multiple loads of mulch has arrived and has been moved to the center area.

The vegetables are thriving despite the fact that they aren't the focus of attention. Over the course of fifteen years we've had plants which didn't survive but that didn't surprise us. What amazed us was that any living thing could grow here at all considering the miserable condition of the soil. Many infusions of compost and mulch have improved the ground considerably however and the amount of commercial fertilizer used has been near zero.

A load of loam has arrived. Because the spring and summer of 2009 were extremely wet the loam became completely soaked and by August when we were finishing off the pile it was like shoveling gravel.
The two small gardens on the left and right are established and healthy.
The raised bed of vegetables is very robust in mid-season form.

We felt that some small to medium-sized landscaping stones would help define the different areas of the garden and our benefactor assured us he could provide them. We showed up on Friday morning July 24, 2009 to what looked like a major theft from Stonehenge. There was a clear disconnect between his idea of "small to medium" and our own. It would be nearly a month before we could get the manpower and equipment to move them into place. The photos of their transport and placement are from the third week in August.
At least they were free.

Decorative arches have been installed on each side of the path. Two photos shows them after they've been stained.
The side gardens are starting to bloom. The last photo shows the entire garden beginning to come together.

The two pergolas arrived as kits to be assembled. First the post holes needed to be dug and filled with gravel. Then the pergolas were erected by hand. The final major addition was the staircase leading from the parking area down to the garden.

This last group of photos shows the garden at various times over the last fifteen years. Eventually, the pergolas became unstable because of ground water rotting the posts. They were replaced with the single hip-roof pergola. Many of the plants, such as the small trees, grasses, rhododendrons and irises are the original plants from the beginning; but others come and go with some replacements being the same species and others being new arrivals. Early on we added a second raised bed which lasted for about ten years but was also removed.

This last photo shows some of the color we try to add to overcome the bleakness of the garden in winter. But more importantly notice the stone plaque in the left center of the picture engraved with the words "Wally's Walk". It was mentioned earlier that we had a benefactor who provided (among other things) financial support for the various features which were installed into the garden; Wally was this benefactor. But his real legacy was the devotion he showed to military veterans of all services with his lifelong tireless support.
Wally died on 1 November, 2016.